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The Children Act

(2017)

Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci and Fionn Whitehead star in this morally complex legal drama based on Ian McEwan’s acclaimed novel about a judge forced to determine a child’s fate.... More

"Judge Fiona Maye (Thompson) is married to her work, which has become a problem for her husband, Jack (Tucci), who announces that he wants to have an affair. Treating the matter more as an annoyance than a life-altering crisis, Fiona kicks Jack out and focuses on her current case. The question: should a couple who are Jehovah's Witnesses be permitted to deny a life-saving blood transfusion to their leukemia-stricken 17-year-old son (Whitehead)? Fiona finds herself taking unusual measures to determine her verdict — measures that will have far-reaching consequences." (Toronto International Film Festival)Hide

This film adaptation never reaches the intimate heights of Ian McEwan's novel, but Emma Thompson's portrait of a family court judge who lets the world in at the cost of losing her own judgment is acting of the highest order.Full Review

A beautifully internalised performance from Ms. Thompson and the various efforts to highlight the cinematic potential in Fiona's anguish... can't override the tidy ironies of Mr. McEwan's design.Full Review